Car-brake.



P. BROWN.

CAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION HLED sEPr.27.1913.

Patented June 6, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

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IIIIIIIHH P. BROWN.

CAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTk Z?. |913. 1,185,972.

Putontvd Jun(` 6, 1916.

2 SHEETSwSHEET 2- UNrrnD srA'rns PATENT OFFICE.

PERRY BROWN, OF CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-BRAKE Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented June 6, 1916.

Application led September 27, 1913. Serial No. 792,173.

end of freight cars, although the brakev is,

capable of use on other cars.

The invention is designed particularly as an improvement on my prior Patents Nos. 1,037,120 and 1,037,121.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter d escribed and claimed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming'fpart hereof: Figure 1 is a perspective View of part of the car having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section. Fig. 2a is a perspective view of the end of the brake shaft. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the ratchet wheel and its pawl detached. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the parts of the operating handle or lever separated in order to better show their construction.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by numerais: 1 designates a frame, preferably a malleable casting, which is adapted to be secured to the end or any other portion of a car and has formed preterably integrally therewith,a bottom plate 5 l having an annular portion 4, the plate 3 having an opening through which projects the brake shaft or statt 6 to which the ordinary brake chains 8 are connected as illustrated in Fig. 1. Located above the annular portion 4 is a member 10 having an annular portion 12 and a socket 14. The annular portions 4 and 12 of the members 1 and 10 torni a housing for the ratchet wheel 16, the latter having a. short sleeve 18 preferably formed integrally therewith and which projects through the opening in the bottom plate 3 of the member 1.' The upper end ot the brake shaft 6 is formed of the shape shown in Fig. 2 and has an upper cylindrical portion 2t) under which n squared portion' The squared portion 22 tits within a square opening 24 formed in the ratchet Wheel 16, and thc ratchet wheel is secured to the brake'shaft by means of a pin 26 `passing through openings 28 in the sleeve 18 and through an opening 30 in the brake shaft 6. This construction I find of importance for the reason that should the stirrup 32, shown at the bottom of Fig. 1, be broken ofi, or become displaced, the brake shaft 6 would be suspended from the member 1v owing to the fact that the ratchet wheel is carried by the bottom plate 3 and has the brake shaft 6 anchored to it by means of the pin 26 and sleeve 18.

The upper rounded end 20 of the brake shaft 6 projects through the aforesaid member 10 and projects into a cap 34 formed integrally with a second frame member 36 riveted or otherwise secured to the end of the car. The brake shaft therefore nds a bearing in the cap 34 and yet permits the member lO to be moved upon the brake shaft 36 may be securely bolted together by means,

of a bolt 38.

In order to move the member 10 with the brake shaft 6, or independently thereof, a

`brake'rhandle or lever 40 is provided which projects within and is pivoted to the socket 14 hereinbefore referred to as projecting from the member 10. This socket 14 is so constructed as to form a housing for the active end of the brake handle or lever 40, and the active end of the lever is pivoted to the sides of the socket 14 by means 0f a pivotal pin 42. The construction is such that the handle or lever 40 normally falls by gravity and rests in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3, but an operator may move the handle or lever to the position shown in full lines in said Fig. The active end of said lever 4@ is provided with an opening 44 within which works a sliding dog 46, the dog having a slot 48 through which tits a pin 50 which limits the movement of the sliding dog 46. The rear end of the dog has a projection 52 which. fits within and centers a spring 54, shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6. In its preferable form, the dog is arranged with two teeth 56 and theseA teeth are in just the proper position, when the handle is moved from the inactive position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 to the active position shown in i'ull lines in the same fig ure to engage with two teeth of the ratchet wheel 16 as shown in Fig. 2. One Aside of coacts' with a projection the sliding dog 46 is provided with a shoulder which tits within a recess 62 formed on the inner wall of the opening 44. The purpose of this construction is to prevent the sliding dog from being shoved, in any way, to the rear, when in the position shown in Fig. 2. As soon, however, as the operator moves the handle olever 40 to the right, as shown in Fig. 2, the sliding dog 46 has sufficient play within the opening in the end of the lever 40 to permit the shoulder (30 to be automatically moved out of the recess G2, when the dog will be permitted to move to the rear against the tension of the spring 54 and thus the teeth of the dog' will slip over the teeth of the ratchet.

As in my aforesaid patents, I employ a pawl to eoact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 1G and hold the same but this pawl is formed in a somewhat different manner from that shown in my aforesaid patents. The pawl is provided with an opening 72 through which passes the bolt 38 hereinbefore referred to as securing the members 1 and 36 together, and thus this bolt forms a pivot on which the pawl may swing. The pawl has a lug 74 projecting downward therefrom into a recess 7G. formed in the bottom of the member 1, said recess containing a spring 78 which normally with the rear end of the pawl 70 is formed into a handle S0 which extends outside of the housing formed between the members 1 and 36 so that an operator may readily engage 'this handle and move it to release the ratchet wheel whenever necessary. lt is sometimes necessary to lock the pawl 7p in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 1.1i. To permit this to be easily done, I provide a pivoted link 82 secured to the end of the cal', which link may be swung around the handle 3() and hold the same in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. The handle has two projections 84 and 8G, the first of which, S4, 8S projecting from the side 4 of the frame 1 and the other projectioni'S is adapted to move over a similar projection 90 projecting from the frame 1, as illustrated in Fig. 2. These 'projections are so formed that in whatever position the handle S0 is moved, the projections fit over each other so as to entirely close theopening through which the handle projects, and thus prevent the accumulation of ice and dirt.

It is believed the operation of my brake will be manifest to those using such appliances; yet it may be best to state that in operation the bi'akeman raises the handle or lever 40 from th(- position sllown in full lines in Fg'. 1 to tbe-position shown in full lines in l- .g2 when the sliding` dog 4G en- 'cs the teeth of the ratchet wheel 16. 'lhc brakeman then swings the handle back acts against said lug 744 t0 hohll the )awl 70 1n enfarement teeth of the ratchet wheel 1G. The

and forth in a horizontal position, with the brake shaft as an axis. As the brake handle is moved to the left, as indicated in Fig. 2, the ratchet wheel will be rotated, thus rotating the brake shaft to wind the chains S, the spring actuated pawl 72 permitting theI ratchet wheel to be rotated. As soon as the brakeman has swung the handle 40 as far as he can, he moves theI brake handle in the opposite direction to thc` right, as shown in Fig. '2. During this n'iovement, the sliding dog` 4rmoves in and out to permit its teeth to slide over the teeth of the ratchet wheel, but during this movement the ratchet wheel is held by the pa wl 72. This operation may be repeated until the brakes are applied to the proper degree, when the brakeman may release the handle and it will fall by gravity to the position shown in Fig. 1, the brake being held applied by the pawl 70. Should it be thought advisable to lock the brakes, the brakeman may swing the link S2 over the handle SO when the pawl will be locked in position and can not be accident-ally released. ll'henever it is necessary to relcase the brakes, the brakcman merely has to move the handle S() against the tension of the spring 7S, when the pawl 7() will be moved out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 16.

I desire to call particular attention to the fact that thc upper wall of the active end of the handle 40 projects considerably over the sliding dog 4G, as seen at 41 in Fig. 3. This construction for the purpose of permitting the end 41 to close against the outer end of? the socket 14, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and thus not only closing the socket, but acting as a stop to prevent the lower end of the handle or lever 40 from swinging inward too far.

It .will be obvious that changes may be made without departing from the spirit of lily invention, the scope of which is set forth by the appended claims.

l'Vhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a' brake, the combination of a supporting member, a brake shaft project-ing therethrough, and a ratchet wheel carried by said supporting member and having a member projecting through the bottom thereof and secured to said bra ke shaft beneath said bottom.

2. In a brake, the combination of a supporting member, a brake shaft projecting theretlnfough, and a ratchet wheel carried by said suppoiting member and having a sleeve projecting through the bottom of said member, said sleeve being secured to said brake shaft beneath said bottom.

3. In a brake, the combination of a brake shaft, a ratchet wheel thereon, .and a ha ndlc having a sliding dog therein, said dog and the handle having coincidingr portions holding the dog in locking engagement with the teeth of Said ratchet wheel. 

